[quote name='Duchess843' post='765932' date='17-Mar-2009 19:48']I've never used a hard disk checker and could use some advice about installing one that will diagnose and repair if necessary. Preferably one that will show what it's doing.

I await words of wisdom from the throne of computer knowledge.

Gloria[/quote]
If you have Windows installed, you already have one. Try "chkdsk.exe". Open a command prompt and type "chkdsk /?" (without the quotes). That will detail all of the different options and switches that you can use with chkdsk.

JohnA Child's Mind, Once Stretched by Imagination...Never Regains Its Original Dimensions

[quote name='Duchess843' post='765932' date='17-Mar-2009 23:48']I've never used a hard disk checker and could use some advice about installing one that will diagnose and repair if necessary. Preferably one that will show what it's doing.[/quote]
To add to what John says, I always use
CHKDSK C: /F /V /R
(and you have to reply Y to the "Can't do this at the moment - do you want to do it on the next reboot?"-type message)
or
CHKDSK D: /F /V /R
for the D: drive, and so on.

Beware that running CHKDSK can take a _l_o_n_ g_ time, often several hours, depending on disk size and the amount of checking needed, so be very patient!

[quote name='BATcher' post='765972' date='18-Mar-2009 02:06']To add to what John says, I always use
CHKDSK C: /F /V /R
(and you have to reply Y to the "Can't do this at the moment - do you want to do it on the next reboot?"-type message)
or
CHKDSK D: /F /V /R
for the D: drive, and so on.

Beware that running CHKDSK can take a _l_o_n_ g_ time, often several hours, depending on disk size and the amount of checking needed, so be very patient![/quote]

I'm very glad you mentioned the time it will take to run. I don't have hours to sit and watch it run. Forgetting about using chkdsk is now on the table, in fact, it's at the top of my list.

[quote name='Duchess843' post='766075' date='18-Mar-2009 14:08']Forgetting about using chkdsk is now on the table, in fact, it's at the top of my list.[/quote]
Sorry to say this Gloria, but that's a big mistake. The longer you put it off, the more complicated the problems can become, possibly even eventually require wiping the drive and starting over. If files or directory entries get corrupt, cross-linked or other problems, continuing to use the drive in that condition can compound the problem

Now, Batcher is right, in that SOMETIMES running chkdsk can take a long time, but you should DO IT, not put it off. I have three drives in my machine and I run chkdsk on each one every Saturday prior to doing my backup imaging. It never takes more than 5-10 minutes for each. As Batcher said, the C: drive will seem to take the longest because it requires a bootup to do it.

You can always set it off before you go to bed, and come back in the morning. The information about the CHKDSK results for the boot drive is held in the Application Event Log.

"When Autochk runs against a volume at boot time it records its output to a file called Bootex.log in the root of the volume being checked. The Winlogon service then moves the contents of each Bootex.log file to the Application Event log. One event log message for each volume checked is recorded as follows:
Event ID: 1001
Source: Winlogon
Description: This includes file system type; drive letter or GUID, and volume name or serial number to help determine what volume Chkdsk ran against.
Also included is whether Chkdsk ran because a user scheduled it or because the dirty bit was set. "

[quote name='Duchess843' post='766075' date='18-Mar-2009 14:08']I'm very glad you mentioned the time it will take to run. I don't have hours to sit and watch it run. Forgetting about using chkdsk is now on the table, in fact, it's at the top of my list.[/quote]
Run it overnight. You don't have to sit and watch it run.

[quote name='DocWatson' post='766082' date='18-Mar-2009 14:50']Run it overnight. You don't have to sit and watch it run. [/quote]

I would like to thank all you gentlemen that replied. I have printed all the information provided and have reconsidered my last post. I will run it over night but I have a question about using the command prompt.

How do I get the prompt to defer to the C: drive instead of Documents & Settings? Never having done something like this before successfully I need the information before I can procede.

[quote name='Duchess843' post='766453' date='20-Mar-2009 13:06']How do I get the prompt to defer to the C: drive instead of Documents & Settings?[/quote]
In the command prompt window enter (without quotes) "cd \" and press enter.

[quote name='Duchess843' post='766453' date='20-Mar-2009 19:06']I have a question about using the command prompt.
How do I get the prompt to defer to the C: drive instead of Documents & Settings? Never having done something like this before successfully I need the information before I can procede.[/quote]
Not sure whether this problem was related to running CHKDSK!
But if it was, the answer is that you don't need to make the current directory to be the root using
CD C:\
because the CHKDSK program is found in the path and will run ok from any current directory.